Milford Sound
Sightseeing
Sunday, August 26, 2007
A spectacular view along our drive to Milford Sound.
Fred continued skiing that day at Treble Cone, but Lawrence and I decided to head off to Milford Sound for a day of touring. Milford Sound, as it turns out, is not a sound at all but a fiord. The difference is that fiords are formed from millions of years of glacial erosion, which is how Milford Sound was created, while sounds are not formed by glaciers.
The Milford Sound.
The drive to Milford Sound took us three hours, and we passed through some of New Zealand's most stunning countryside. We saw green fields filled with sheep, deer, and cattle. We passed tall, snow-covered mountains shrouded in clouds and steep snow-covered cliffs prone to avalanches.
We also passed through the Homer Tunnel, which is carved straight through the heart of a mountain range, eventually arriving at a place unlike any I have ever seen before: Milford Sound.
My shipmate.
Because glaciers cut deeply into the mountain rock, what remains are tall mountain peaks covered with snow and very straight-cut sides. These cliffs allow hundreds of waterfalls to cascade down from the Tasman Sea. The Tasman Sea is the body of water that separates New Zealand from Australia.
Due to the snow-covered mountains and the fact that Milford Sound receives up to nine meters of rain per year, the area is covered with rainforests and constantly inundated by waterfalls. Lawrence and I boarded a boat for a three-hour cruise of Milford Sound. The cruise gave us a close-up view of the sound as we sailed to the mouth of the sound and back. What a wonderful and inspiring trip it was.
See Milford Sound video